| 100% | ELLEN | 5 | With 28-Down, newswoman who founded a college in Claremont, Calif. |
| 49% | VASSAR | 6 | Matthew who founded a college in 1861 |
| 40% | POMONA | 6 | College in Claremont, Calif. |
| 39% | OLE | 3 | With 28-Down, a university in Dixie |
| 37% | ZEPPELIN | 8 | Count who founded the "Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Luftschiffahrt" in 1898, a venture that ended up with the Hindenburg |
| 35% | DANNYTREJO | 10 | "Machete" actor who zip-lined down a mountain on "Running Wild With Bear Grylls" in 2021: 2 wds. |
| 35% | MACY | 4 | R.H. who founded a New York store in 1858 |
| 35% | CARTIER | 7 | Louis-François who founded a Parisian jewelry house in 1847 |
| 35% | IAMS | 4 | Animal nutritionist who founded a pet food company in 1946 |
| 34% | ASS | 3 | Mammal who found a "Lion's Skin," in an Aesop's fable |
| 33% | UNA | 3 | With 8 Down, a girl in Guadalajara |
| 33% | LLBEAN | 6 | Double-initialed outdoorsman who founded a retail company based in Freeport, Maine: 3 wds. |
| 33% | RAF | 3 | Org. with a college in Cranwell, England |
| 33% | AMIES | 5 | Hardy —, dressmaker by appointment to Queen Elizabeth II who founded a fashion house in 1946 |
| 33% | CARNEGIE | 8 | Andrew ___, Scottish-American industrialist, business magnate, and philanthropist who founded a steel company in Pittsburgh |
| 32% | KITE | 4 | With 14 Down, person who chases down a flying toy |
| 32% | GEAR | 4 | Found in cars, often changed with a stick shift |
| 32% | ELOPER | 6 | One who settles down in a rush? |
| 32% | FLOWERS | 7 | Plants with petals, found in a bouquet |
| 32% | PAUL | 4 | With 28-Across, "Avengers: Endgame" actor who plays Gary Grooberson in "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" |
| 32% | DORM | 4 | Where a college student who's not in a frat might live |
| 32% | BFF | 3 | Whom you might get a matching bracelet with, in brief |
| 32% | PISA | 4 | Italian city with a university founded in 1343 |
| 32% | JEFFDANIELS | 11 | "Dumb and Dumber" actor who founded a theater for local actors in his Michigan hometown: 2 wds. |
| 32% | MORON | 5 | "Anyone who disagrees with me," in a saying |
| 32% | BACK | 4 | With 28-Down, part of a golf course |
| 32% | VASCODAGAMA | 11 | Portuguese explorer who found a sea route from Europe to India in the late 1400s: 3 wds. |
| 32% | SLATE | 5 | Actress Jenny who found fame with a viral animated short about a seashell |
| 31% | CHARLOTTE | 9 | In the story, the spider who's friends with a pig |
| 31% | REED | 4 | A grass-like plant found in the wetlands (rhymes with "need") |